I will take a look at that software, but for now I am using Eagle... and yes, I probably waste about 25% of the total layout time in managing its many many little quirks.
The photo paper I'm using is indeed HP photo paper, but since I don't print photos any more, I consider it free 
I will very likely switch to the staples house brand when I run out of the hp stock (not any time soon)
I read up on the laminator method long before I started making my own PCB's, but since I am broke, and couldn't find the proper mod'able machine locally I broke down and bought a $7 iron 
The results are pretty good in my opinion, but it definitely limits my clearance and trace size significantly (forced to use 15-20 mil spacing and 10 mil tracing [10mil isn't that bad actually]). As soon as I have some spare cash I will definitely pick up a laminator, but I need to buy a board vice first, helping hands are only decent for small boards -- my power barduino board is pretty heavy due to 4 relays and terminal blocks on-board.